Seven Kingdoms [GxB/G] [Fantasy, Politics, Rom] (Greenlit)

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Lyyli
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Re: ~(DEMO!)~ Seven Kingdoms [GxB/G] [Fantasy, Rom, Politics

#61 Post by Lyyli »

Right after my previous post I went for another play and this time I got the manipulation check with Woodly, yay! The text after that when he kisses your hand says he has a beard or stubble, but his sprite doesn't. Also, this time playing I became an awesome hostess so yay for that too! I guess I'm getting better and better at understanding things the more I play. Man that Jarrod though, twice he mentioned I was ugly, thanks gorgeous ahaha xD At least I have a great way with words, I swear I see new dialogue and dialogue options everytime I play, it's sooo cool!
*cough* Yes, I love this game to bits already.
Meep.

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Re: ~(DEMO!)~ Seven Kingdoms [GxB/G] [Fantasy, Rom, Politics

#62 Post by JinTonic »

I've played the demo and I have to say that the story was absolutely amazing. The art of the game was very good too!

* What backgrounds did you unlock your first playthrough? Which did you pick?

- The pirate background and a minor noble with a scholarly bent)

* Did you have any success getting invitations your first try?

- Anaele, Lord Clarmont, Jarrod, Hamin, Earl Emmett, Cordelia and Lisle.

* What characters are you liking?

- My favorite is Prince Jarrod! Maybe because I like pushy, forceful, egocentric and dangerous male-characters. Oh good Lord, I've found him extremely sexy. And his Nordic look suits him so much. Just my type. 8)

I also like Prince Hamin, Duke Lyon, Grand Duke Woodly(though he's a bit old)), Prince Zarad, Princess Jaslen and The Ice Princess Gisette.

* How are the Challenges and the hosting events? Are you having any luck getting great success/perfect success? Or is it too hard? Has anyone been able to get a perfect success hosting a tea the first week?

- It was a bit hard but not very hard) I think I did an "average" hostess.

The hardest was to pass the "horse" event! I died so many times that I had to start the game from the beginning but in the end I was rescued by Prince Hamin because even after starting the game from the beginning my skills weren't good enough :(

I can't wait to play the full version. I think I'm asking to much but when are you planning to finish this beautiful game?))

Oh, I almost forgot! How to make Jarrod to crew your ship?) When I come to have a dinner with him my heroine just always runs away. Should it be like this?
Last edited by JinTonic on Fri Dec 26, 2014 10:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: ~(DEMO!)~ Seven Kingdoms [GxB/G] [Fantasy, Rom, Politics

#63 Post by alylt »

Hi again ColaCat - Glad you are getting more backgrounds than you thought! (for someone who values being a smarty, Scholar is automatic ;) )

Lyyvi - Ack! Thanks for catching that! I thought I caught all the references mentioning his pre-art appearance, but somehow there is always more, I'll add it to the list to fix for the next update! And yes, tact is really not Jarrod's strong point. Finding new stuff everytime you play was the plan, so I'm glad it's working out!

JinTonic - Hi and thanks so much for playing and for giving me feedback, I super appreciate it!

for Jarrod:
He will crew your ship if he likes you enough. And the reason your MC is running away is because she doesn't have enough courage, or confidence in her ability to manipulate the situation- try again with a character with different stats!
Thanks again everyone for all your feedback. YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST. (((((((GROUP HUG)))))))

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Re: ~(DEMO!)~ Seven Kingdoms [GxB/G] [Fantasy, Rom, Politics

#64 Post by JinTonic »

alylt wrote:
JinTonic - Hi and thanks so much for playing and for giving me feedback, I super appreciate it!

for Jarrod:
He will crew your ship if he likes you enough. And the reason your MC is running away is because she doesn't have enough courage, or confidence in her ability to manipulate the situation- try again with a character with different stats!
Thanks again everyone for all your feedback. YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST. (((((((GROUP HUG)))))))
Thank you for your reply. I've changed my stats and unlocked Tomboy Countess background - after that Jarrod finally agreed) :D and the most important - eventually I had a dinner with him))
Btw, I've played the game many times but whenever I go to the cliffs - my sight always fails and I never can figure out what's going on between Jarrod and Giesette.((

Oh, I think I also started to like Prince Lisle. I hope he's not as simple and sweet as he seems) 8)

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Re: ~(DEMO!)~ Seven Kingdoms [GxB/G] [Fantasy, Rom, Politics

#65 Post by alylt »

Oh, I'm glad you finally got it! Congrats!

Insight tips:
There's only way to raise insight. During certain conversations there will be an insight conversation menu (you won't know which one it is, but it never changes based on your skills if that helps) picking the 'best' answer for whoever you are talking to will net you +5 insight. There is one insight chance in every conversation during the welcome feast, so if you are trying to raise it, make sure you show up early! There are a few more options to raise it during the rest of the demo, but they will only show up in conversations that every MC has, so think main events!

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Re: ~(DEMO!)~ Seven Kingdoms [GxB/G] [Fantasy, Rom, Politics

#66 Post by AntiquedFae »

Downloading the demo now! I'm incredibly relieved to hear there are less ways to die in this than LLTQ. I'm certain it is an amazing game, but I am not skilled at it. This sounds really interesting though! I tend to be very bad at managing social events and what people think of me in games(which may or may not be affected by my being terrible at it in real life 8) ) so we shall see how quickly I can manage to get myself killed by disillusioned nobles! :lol: I don't suppose there is an option to play as a slightly spooky very antisocial intellect of a princess who lives in a possibly haunted library and no one dares cross as they are too afraid she may curse them? Because that would about be my ideal princess character. Ooh! And a moat with a monster in it!
...I'll be quiet and go play the nice game demo now. :lol:
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Re: ~(DEMO!)~ Seven Kingdoms [GxB/G] [Fantasy, Rom, Politics

#67 Post by ameliori »

What backgrounds did you unlock on your first playthrough? Which did you pick?
- Daughter of a Notorious Pirate
- Court Lady
- Minor Lady with Scholarly Bent
- Sheltered Princess
I'm a teensy upset I didn't unlock any "more than you appear" options

Did you have any success getting invitations your first try?
- Lyon
- Hamin
- Emmet
- Lisle
- Penelope
- Cordelia
- Jarrod
- Clairmont
- *Jasper
I Just tried it, ya know? And it's absolutely adorable that he "froze up" at the invite
What characters are you liking?
*WARNING* : LONG
I freakin love everyone. I was surprised that I loved Anaele more than I should. Usually warrior princess types tend to be rude or tsundere, so at first I wasnt too interested. But she was just a giant ball of energy that I want to turn her into a plush toy I can carry around everywhere. Penelope is so friggin cute, omfgfjdshfhsk if there's an option to romance her, I would definitely jump on that. I tried getting Gisette (cos she's so icy hawt man, i love her character design) in one of the paths I made, but I don't think I could. I turned around and wondered if I can lie to her if my "Manipulation" is high enough, or if my base stats are on the cunning side. No success. Any thoughts?

Romantically, I found it funny that there was an option somewhere saying "I'm ready to build a harem!" because that almost feels like what I want to do. I seriously love Emmet, Lisle and Lyon. These three are my top guys. Emmet is the type I'd probably go for in RL, as I love ditzy unassuming thoughtful guys. I think they're really rare. Lisle is so intriguing and I love the MC's banter with him, how she's all "sarcastic swoon" over the prince. I find the dialogue really good. Just enough for my shipping goggles but realistic enough that it's not like "OMFG, MC, I think I'm in love with you" (which is pretty much Hamin's game, but for some reason, I totally adore that too).

Now Lyon... Lyon, Lyon, Lyon. You sweet innocent thing. Don't stand so close, will you, I might just suddenly pop you a kiss while you contemplate the complexities of my eyebrows. Serves you right for being such an adorkable giant.

I am intrigued by Jarrod, and I did have a bit feel a bit of "Romance" there, but to be honest, I'd like to tackle him more on the conquest side. I think hard people are the easiest to manipulate when you get through their exterior (in game terms i mean). I feel like he's just looking for somebody to see who he really is, which is every abusive boyfriends' marketing pitch.. But this is different. He's a hot bishie sprite, so I'm all for it. Show me the goods, baby.

Now, I wonder if there's an option to juggle a number of romantic relationships at once, and if there are going to be dire repercussions. The way this game is structured, it can't be far off, especially if there are "Manipulation" and "Cunning" stats. Can I play a Cleopatra/Madam du Barry role in this whole thing? ...I might probably start a war if I do that though (but hey, the powerful women used their charm to stop wars right?)

How are the Challenges and the hosting events? Are you having any luck getting great success/perfect success? Or is it too hard? Has anyone been able to get a perfect success hosting a tea the first week?
I was an "excellent" hostess, I think. I forgot what the wording was exactly. The hosting events weren't too complicated. I was more intimidated about building my skills cos I had to go around in circles to keep my stats up. I didn't really mind the hosting events too much. I'm having too much fun talking to the characters.

Additional Comments:
This game is written really well, and I think its strength is how immersive the world is and the bright colorful characters you can talk to. The structure of the game is alright, but sometimes I get the feeling like I'm bombarded with too many "stats" to keep an eye on. With only 5-11 blocks of activity a day, I'm not really sure how to structure the training. There are "cumulative" stats apart from the individual stats, too. Phew! Sometimes I feel like it's getting in the way of actually interacting with the characters and building my stats off that.

Also, (and this is a big thing for me), consider hiring a UI/graphic designer. I think the game would benefit GREATLY. I mean, the backgrounds are fine. I don't really mind photoshoped images. I barely noticed them, since I am more interested in the characters anyway. But with a game that requires you to check your stats for progress, the UI is definitely a big deal. I can offer you my services since I'm a graphic designer by trade (can't work for free though but I'm willing to do deals) and I don't usually go around threads hawking my trade (I'm apologize if this is in bad form :<) but I just really love this game and I think it has a big potential to be great. Right now, I find this the biggest obstacle.

If you don't have enough budget to hire anyone, I can give you a few tips:

- Consider having the Profile button and the Back button on the right sight of the screen so people can shuffle through the screens easier
- The stat bars should be equal in size and shape so you can see the progress in one glance. (I might even suggest recalibrating the stats so that there's fewer to mind, but the game might become different, so maybe just consider layouting it better so people don't have to scroll down)
- In the Skills page, don't put the "Back" button at the bottom of the page since sometimes it's a hassle to scroll down when you only wanted to check one stat.
- Make the scroll bars bigger.
- It is so much better to keep things clean and simple than fancy. Try lessening the effects on the buttons in "Ask for advice", "Study Skill" And "explore castle". A simple color overlay will be enough, I think.
- I know you went through a cycle of fonts through the demo, but I still think the current font, though readable, is a bit too decorative. The leading of the fonts make the block of texts more or less tedious. Consider using a clean standard font. For long texts, serif fonts are easier to read, so try using Georgia or Palatino Linotype.
- Generally, keeping things clean and readable should have more priority than making them pretty. I found some embellishments unnecessary.

That said, I am definitely in awe of your world and character building in this game. I'm trying to plan out a somewhat similar game myself, but I really have no clue how to get started. Playing this game just gave me shivers of delight. Look at all of em shiny possibilities!! So yeah. You're great. Best of luck in this project!
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Re: ~(DEMO!)~ Seven Kingdoms [GxB/G] [Fantasy, Rom, Politics

#68 Post by alylt »

Hi AntiquedFae! Thanks for stopping by :) I hope you enjoy the demo! (Even if you can't really be a princess who lives in a haunted library, although you can get close on a couple of your other wishes!) Don't worry about dying, a story mode version will be added in the next big update. (This will make certain events easier and make sure there's no game ending events)

Hi ameliori! Thank you so much for playing and for all the amazing feedback, I super appreciate it.

Yes! You can lie to Gisette. Manipulation is a good place to start~

As for multiple romances I answered a couple questions similar to this on tumblr today, so I'll just copy and paste the relevant parts. Spoilers for game structure/Romance structure:
So up until near the end of week three, there’s a ‘common’ gameplay path. you are still getting to know everyone and you can do everything with everyone (assuming they like you enough) but as you get further into week three, the game tells you that you are going to have to start to make a choice and starts limiting your options.
From the start of week 4 on, there will be 3 different ‘paths’ that a character can be on. There’s a ‘romance path’ where you are getting serious with one character in both a romance and possible marriage kind of way. Then there’s a ‘political path’ where your character is trying to arrange a political marriage. And finally there is an ‘observation’ path where your character has decided they aren’t interested in marriage at all.
For each path there are romances you can only do while you are on it. (And the political marriage path has some complicated stuff going on where you can be romancing someone and planning to marry someone different.)
There are 6 characters with romance paths, these characters will have significantly more content than characters your romance on the other paths.
For example there are ‘hidden romances’ where you have to find all the scenes and pick the right choices and pass the right checks but will only get the real romance resolution at the end of the game.
There are also what I have been calling ‘medium romances’ that has somewhere between the two in terms of content.
(this was in response to a question on jealousy/broken hearts, but it applies)
Due to the many, many possible variations, in order to make things doable on my end, there is a decision point, where you basically pick one person you are ‘romancing’ (or no one). Then you will deal with everyone you haven’t picked. How they respond to that depends on their personality. Some people will be upset, some will be okay with it etc.
Things get complicated on the political path, where you can be trying to marry one person while romancing someone else, but otherwise once you have made your decision, everyone moves on and the game focuses on your relationship with that one person.
Tips for balancing stats w/ talking to people:
You actually get stats for successfully spending time with people. Even failures give you the same amount as studying. Double for success! (The only downside is you don't get to pick what is raised) So the game rewards you more for spending time with people than for focusing on stats.
Your design tips are super helpful for me to learn from! Actually I've gotten a few similar comments from your fellow super talented artist types. So your comments are actually really well timed, because I just finished working on some new, cleaner, simpler menu type stuff. So for everyone who commented, I hope this is improved:

Image

Good luck on your game! You are a super talented artist, so I bet it will be awesome!

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Re: ~(DEMO!)~ Seven Kingdoms [GxB/G] [Fantasy, Rom, Politics

#69 Post by AntiquedFae »

Okay, just finished the demo! Well, up to the horse of death. I think I may have put a touch too much emphasis on my academics. I kept on giving myself 135 starting academics. The characters are all very interesting, but I had trouble keeping track of them as there are so many different names and countries dropped on you all at once. I was very engrossed with the story so did not pay as much attention to the journal as I probably should have though, so there may have been something which made it easier in there.
I can't help but wonder, regardless of what you do do you end up getting poisoned? Because you know, apparently having me tossed off a cliff by a horse wasn't enough.
Mainly my problem was that as expected, I am far too busy spending time reading books to actually focus on politics and relationship building. Oops. The game is very well written though!
However, I found the exploring the castle feature a little vague, at least in the first week. I suppose I would have liked a bit more explanation or information on what the value of looking around the castle is, or who you can meet, or something a little more...revealing than the name of a room. That may just have been me, however. The good news is I earned the respect of many people!...But not the matchmaker. Definitely not the matchmaker. Must work on courage for next time!

I'm really curious to see more!
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Re: ~(DEMO!)~ Seven Kingdoms [GxB/G] [Fantasy, Rom, Politics

#70 Post by kyrie »

I completed the demo and I have to say I really love the game! I truly hope that this game does get finished because I'm literally dying to know what happens to my protagonist~

What backgrounds did you unlock your first playthrough? Which did you pick?
Ambitious widow
Court lady skilled in politics
Daughter of a notorious pirate

and I was able to unlock sheltered princess, minor scholarly lady, tomboy countess, player of the Grand Game and secret historian on subsequent playthroughs. My favorite backgrounds were definitely ambitious widow and the princess though I imagine I'll love the player of the Grand Game when that background is finished.


Did you have any success getting invitations your first try?

Yes~ I got invites from Ana, Lisle, Emmet, Jarrod and Zarad I believe.

What characters are you liking?

All of them! Okay so if I have to name favorites... Jarrod, Jasper, Lyon, the Grand Duke, Gisette, Avalie and Ana. I was surprised that I loved Ana as much as I did. I tend to not like her type of character but her bold declaration during the self introductions had me swooning xD

How are the Challenges and the hosting events? Are you having any luck getting great success/perfect success? Or is it too hard? Has anyone been able to get a perfect success hosting a tea the first week?

I was able to get perfect success on one of my later playthroughs with the musicale and the world famous musicians. I haven't tried with the tea because more folks seem to decline the invitation (though now I'm interested in trying to get a perfect with tea!).



I do have some theories about some of the characters already... like Lisle I'm thinking
is gay and thus only a political marriage option. That's why the Grand Duke warns the protagonist about her interest in him.


All in all, I enjoyed playing the demo immensely and hope to see an updated demo with new backgrounds, menu art and week 3 soon! <3

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Re: ~(DEMO!)~ Seven Kingdoms [GxB/G] [Fantasy, Rom, Politics

#71 Post by alylt »

Hi AntiquedFae!

One of the things I've realized now that I get to see people's playthroughs is that the nerdy types mcs really have a tough time with the horse challenge, which was never my intention! All types are supposed to be able to do well enough to succeed at something really well. (Don't worry, Genius types will have their challenge to shine in week 4!) But I didn't end up balancing it the way I want. Which is why storymode is coming!

As for your question about the Jiyel Background:
No, there isn't anyway to avoid being poisoned! It's going to be a long term ongoing thing for your character~
Hi kyrie~ thanks so much for playing and for the comment! I appreciate it~ I'm hard at work at updating stuff, so I hope it all comes out soon, too!

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Re: ~(DEMO!)~ Seven Kingdoms [GxB/G] [Fantasy, Rom, Politics

#72 Post by ColaCat »

Wow, so many backgrounds I haven't managed to get yet! And I was wondering if it is possible to complete Jarrod's date? Every time I get it he
scares me away because of the soup incident.
Man, I suck at this game! Yet it's still so addictive. Is the full version going to be commercial?
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Re: ~(DEMO!)~ Seven Kingdoms [GxB/G] [Fantasy, Rom, Politics

#73 Post by underbliss »

ColaCat wrote:Man, I suck at this game! Yet it's still so addictive. Is the full version going to be commercial?
What I'd guess:
I suspect it has to do with 'courage' but I don't know for sure of course. My cowardly chick ran out of there for my dear life but my pirate chick with more emphasis on being bold and such did the event just fine.... courageous and pretty are his ticks if I had to guess.... I believe she also said somewhere else that the game would indeed be commercial but that the demo would be quite long or something~
Useless feedback is as follows::

Oh this game is glorious! It helps I suppose that the direction you're going in certain vague ways are ones I pursue as well, and your inspirations are ones I also like, but I think even if this were completely outside my own personal happy zone I'd of loved this game!

I wasn't terribly fond of the menus but that's not a big deal to me at all. The setting and intrigue are all I come for and I wasn't disappointed! I'm super looking forward to this and would definitely pick up the full version~ <3

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Re: ~(DEMO!)~ Seven Kingdoms [GxB/G] [Fantasy, Rom, Politics

#74 Post by ColaCat »

Ah! Thanks! Yeah, I either get one or the other. Guess I'll have to try to get a character with both of those traits!

Shame it's commercial ( although I'm only saying that because I'm broke >_<;).

Still, I love how you can replay this game so many times! Going through her page is a bit tiring though, the new screens look much better. :)
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Re: ~(DEMO!)~ Seven Kingdoms [GxB/G] [Fantasy, Rom, Politics

#75 Post by alylt »

Hi underbliss! Thanks so much for playing and for commenting and NO feedback is useless!

Hi ColaCat~ Underbliss gave you the right tips :) (although Jarrod likes
pretty characters
unlike
courage
it's not necessary to get on or stay on his route. Also, yes the game is going to commerical, but hopefully on the cheap end. Plus it wont be out for a while yet! So hopefully you won't be feeling as broke :) I send you good money juju for the new year.

And yes, new menus in the next big update~ yay!

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